Cell phones and the stealth connectivity revolution in DPRK
■"Cell Phones Spark 'Communication Revolution' in N.K.," by staff, English.Chosun.com, 2 December 2004, pulled from site http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200412/200412020030.html.
Cell phones are sneaking into North Korea in recent years. The stories are stunning, like the old man who talked to his brother for the first time in over 50 years. When he first heard his voice on the cell, he thought he was being visited by a ghost.
Of course, as soon as they started appearing on Pyongyang streets, they were banned by the government.
Who's stirring up this trouble? The Chinese, who are installing relay stations along the border, which in turn seems to be fueling a mini-boom in illicit cell phones in the Hermit Kingdom.
What drives this infrastructural development? Whenever cross-border trade begins with either China or the South, North Korean officials and merchants ask their counterparts for cell phones. Gotta like that.
So the government issues their bans and hunts down cell phones as much as possible, leading to some real cat-and-mouse games.
Good luck with that Kim!